National Basketball Association
Virginia Tech 73, Liberty 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia
Officials:
# Pat Driscoll, # Bryan Kersey, # Tim Nestor
Attendance:
5586
By SportsDirect Inc.
Virginia Tech 73, Liberty 63: Joey van Zegeren had
17 points and 10 rebounds, and Adam Smith and Devin Wilson had 13 points apiece as the
Hokies beat the visiting Flames.
Justin Bibbs also scored in double figures,
adding 10 points as Virginia Tech improved to 2-0. The Hokies shot a blistering
73.7 percent from the floor in the second half to finish 25-of-41, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range.
Tomasz Gielo had 13 points and Ryan Kemrite added
11 points off the bench for Liberty (2-1), which had opened the season with a
pair of home wins. Point guard Joe Retic, who played most of the second half
with four fouls, chipped in 10 points for the Flames, who had 21 turnovers and were
whistled for 21 fouls.
Virginia Tech led 31-28 at halftime but
methodically pulled away, outscoring the visitors 26-16 over the first 10 1/2 minutes of the second half. The Flames pulled to within 65-59 on James Johnson’s
jumper with a little more than four minutes remaining, but the Hokies scored eight
of the game’s final 12 points.
It was a back-and-forth battle early, but
back-to-back 3-pointers from Malik Muller and Smith put Virginia Tech ahead
19-13 midway through the half. The Flames outscored the Hokies 15-12 the rest of way in the sloppy first half, which featured a
combined 24 turnovers – 13 by Liberty.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Virginia Tech improved to 46-5
against current members of the Big South Conference, including 14-3 against Liberty. … The Flames were a combined 29-of-39 from the free-throw
stripe in their 2-0 start but got to the line only 10 times Wednesday, hitting seven.
… The game was the opener of the Cancun Challenge for both teams, who will each
play a pair of contests in Mexico next week.
Top Game Performances
| Liberty |
|
Virginia Tech |
|
Tomasz Gielo 13 |
Scoring |
Joey Van Zegeren 17 |
|
Joe Retic 4 |
Assists |
Devin Wilson 9 |
|
Andrew Smith 8 |
Rebounds |
Joey Van Zegeren 10 |
|
Theo Johnson 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Devin Wilson 9 |
|
Ryan Kemrite 2 |
Steals |
Malik Muller 4 |
|
Andrew Smith 1 |
Blocks |
Jalen Hudson 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Liberty
|
63 |
42.9 |
8-21 |
7-10 |
14 |
29 |
1 |
6 |
21 |
| Virginia Tech
|
73 |
61.0 |
7-13 |
16-28 |
16 |
23 |
3 |
9 |
19 |
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